Ms Arlene Forster:

It does. On international practice and in response to the Senator's question, a number of particular elements struck us that might be of particular importance to our work on the senior cycle. I will draw attention to some we have not spoken about heretofore in this meeting. One of the features we saw in our examination of international practice was greater diversification in upper secondary schools and, in particular, the fact that many jurisdictions have very clearly defined vocational pathways. There is learning there for us in redeveloping the senior cycle.

Another area that is prominent in other jurisdictions is broader reporting. We captured that in the advisory report. In Ireland, as the Senator knows, reporting very much focuses on a young person's examination results. In the discussions during the senior cycle review, time was given to thinking about the value of having broader reporting and taking account of other experiences that young people might have, including transition year and the two years leading towards the leaving certificate itself.

The review of international practice also highlighted examples of systems that encourage and support greater specialisation in terms of the subjects, modules and curriculum components a young person can choose. Alongside that, there was also a continuing emphasis on literacy and numeracy and the importance attached to them. That is reflected in our system now.

A final matter to which I would draw attention is that many other jurisdictions look to a greater diversity of learning environments for young people at particular stages of their education. For example, some systems have a greater emphasis on building partnerships with local businesses and organisations in the voluntary sector. There is also the online learning piece we have already mentioned. Those are just some of the things that came up in our review. I apologise for the speed with which I went through all of that.